Adieu Neighbor

In our present residence, there are three flats of three BHK each. My family has been living in one of the flats here for over a dozen years now. The ground floor has been used for official and church-related services and my family resides just above it, on the first floor. I commute between home and work daily from the first floor to the ground floor and vice versa. In that way, traveling time to work has been saved. Besides, the house has been very useful for carrying out the Lord's services, not to mention my children's schooling where the school is just a walkable distance from home. Besides, the Lord's presence here has been very much enjoyed by all the members of my family since. Any thought of shifting will be immediately repudiated by my children, and so far, the Lord has never given me the go-ahead for any change of residence for whatever reason or purpose. So we are happily residing in the same residence for many years, following the Lord's leading.

However, one out of the two flats is occupied by many different families. Since we have moved in, seven different entities have come and gone. The last neighbor we had, just shifted a week ago. Before this neighbor moved in, we had been praying that whoever comes in might be our gospel contact. Once the family came in we prayed and began our first contact. In our very first contact, I proposed for a weekly home meeting which they later denied, informing me of their "not interested" in a "religious meeting." That really broke my heart. The reason being, we have prayed so much before they came and once they came, with much hope, we approached them as neighbors and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. But they prefer to be good a neighbor rather than being a gospel neighbor. Perhaps, I expected too much. But we still continued to pray for their salvation one day.

Last month when I heard about their shifting out due to the ongoing pandemic that devastated my neighbor's all businesses for which he had no option but to leave for home, for now, I was a little disappointed. Because my burden for the gospel has not yet been released for the family. Though I invited them for the online gospel meeting he never attended nor even bother to reply. Once I invited him for a lovefeast, though he promised to join, but did not show up without informing at all.  Since then I sensed that they were not interested in the gospel at all. But our prayers for the family have never ceased. 

I had invited them again for one last meal together before they left but was never informed when they would leave and when my family could dine with them. Even when I asked him, I was told that it would be considered but was never confirmed. I would not force anyone to dine if they were not willing at all. I left the matter to them to decide, and I decided not to push the invitation further. Twice I have informed them and got no reply. So I reckoned that perhaps, the Lord has a better plan. The last month-end, my neighbor had shifted out. Though I could not bid adieu to them as I didn't even know when they actually left, still my heart prays for them for their salvation one day.

When my house owner requested me to check the vacated flat and sent him a picture of each room for the final handover, I complied with his request. To my surprise, as I checked the rooms, they were all in a mess. I guess they decided to clean it up later. But that the owner wanted me to send photos, I would not send messy photos that might affect my neighbor's relationship with the house owner as the final rent deposit settlement has to be made.  Then I decided that that was my last opportunity to do a favor to them. I decide to clean up the entire house and give the best impression to the house owner. 

The Lord knew my heart and my burden. When I was just thinking of cleaning up, a maid came to check if there was any work she could do, as seemed to have worked here in the flat before. Immediately I hired her to clean up all the rooms and paid her for her works. Besides, I also repaired the water leakage in two toilets at my own expense. The money that I could have used for a farewell meal which I could not utilize, I deemed it best to use in cleaning the house and gave the best impression to the house owner after my neighbor shifted out. That's what I actually did, and sent my house owner photos of all cleaned-up rooms after handover and takeover.  In that way, I could help my neighbor and house owner, not allowing the matter to hamper their relationship while maintaining my relationship with both of them.

Besides, after they shifted, they had piled up bags of garbages for the garbage boy to pick up. But the garbage boy's job is to pick kitchen wastes only and not household waste. So for about a week, the discarded household items were lying on our front lawn. For this too, I hired some local labor to pick them up and discard them at the garbage dump. Finally, all clean-up works were done on behalf of my neighbor. 

I was glad that I could do this as my helping hand to both my neighbor and owner. I could not offer anything nor a farewell meal, so at least I could spend some money on the clean-up works and gave a good impression to the homeowner. This little act of neighborly love will one day bear fruit. I hope to meet them again someday somewhere, at the Lord's timing, and that will be for the sharing of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ unto their salvation.

Adieu neighbor for now, but not yet. The gospel is yet to be preached. And prayer continues...

Lesson on Shepherding: Not Persuasive Words

For I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified. And my speech and my proclamation were not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, In order that your faith would not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will ascertain not the speech of those who are puffed up but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in speech but in power. 1 Corinthians 2:2, 4, 5; 4:19, 20

Paul as a pattern of shepherding the saints did not determine to know anything except Jesus Christ and Christ crucified. He did not try his best to persuade the believers to take the way he wanted them to take. But he ministered the Word in Spirit and power. This testimony of Paul gave me a new light on shepherding. I was deeply convicted by the way I have been shepherding the new ones. I guess I have tried my best to convince them with persuasive words, using the truth of the Bible. Perhaps, I was biblically correct and all the points I put forth were true to the core. None of the new ones I have been shepherding dare to question me on any point of the truths I presented to them. Even when anyone did, I refuted them and "defeated' them in theological debate. But where are the fruits of all this labor?

Even to date, I have been in touch with a good number of seekers in different parts of India. I have been shepherding them for years altogether now. But for some reason, they could not fully take the way of the Lord's recovery. They are still stuck in their so-called "mother" churches or in their old religious concept. This has bothered me a lot these days. I often get discouraged thinking if they really enjoyed fellowshipping with me and agreed with all the points of truths I presented to them all these years, why are they still lingering in the old things? What has hindered them in their fully coming on the way of the church life; taking the stand for the church? 

Thank the Lord for His merciful speaking to me personally. The answer I received a few days ago is in the words and testimony of the apostle Paul. He was very pure and straightforward. He determined to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Did I really seek to know nothing other than Christ and Him crucified? Maybe not. So I stand convicted in my expectations and attitude.

Besides, I was so helped to not depend upon my knowledge and revelation of the truths. But I must fully depend on the Spirit of God to work and move in the hearts of these ones I have been superseding. If at all they take the way of the church life in the Lord's recovery, it must be by their own realization of the truth and conviction of the Spirit, and not by my persuasive word.  Thank God for this lesson, yes a very perfecting and humbling lesson.

In fact, I repented for trying to stick my natural hands into the works of God. Now I learnt his simple yet humbling lesson; never trust in your persuasive words, even words full of revelation and knowledge full of truth. Unless the power of the Spirit operates through those words and revelation, it will not bear forth fruits.

Now, I simply learn to depend fully on the Lord and His Spirit to operate in power in all the ones I have been shepherding. I must still be faithful to shepherd them, but I must never trust in my persuasive words, but in the Holy Spirit. So, I hand over all my contacts to the Lord and pray for them, and continue to shepherd them with a pure heart and motive to simply shepherding them. No more hidden string attached of expecting them to take the way I have been taking, I leave that to the Lord wholly. What a release! What freedom from unwarranted expectations and hidden hope! Simply do my part, and leave the result to the Lord. 

Praise the Lord for this wonderful lesson on shepherding! Not persuasive words, but the power of the Spirit!

Cool Cooler

When one of our brothers was shifted out of Gurugram, he handed over his used Cooler, a room cooling machine that runs in the pricniple of converting water into vapour and cooling down the room temperature. The Cooler was purcahsed when he first shifted to New Delhi in 2004. That cooler has been a blessing to our family during summer. It has generated a good amount of cool air to cool the room temperature down. We have been using that for over eight yeasrs in addition to the brother who already used it for another eight yeras. Despite its oldness, it functions very effectively. What we need is a cooler that really works as a cooler. 

A few years ago, I changed the water pump, and last week it broke down as it had an issue with the motor. Initially, I thought it was time to discard it and buy a new one. But on second thought, I looked out for a mechanic to repar it. To my surprise, it was repaired for a few hundred rupees only. Then after a few days of use, it broke down again. This time I thought, I really have to buy a new one. In fact, I went to the malls to lookout for a new Cooler. And I identified a particular model to purchase after letting my wife look at it.

When my wife and I had decided to buy one particular Cooler model, the salesman informed us that the piece was already purchased. Later I called up the mechanic who repaired the Cooler motor as I had given him to repair it again, he informed me that he just changed the capacitor and that it works fine now. These two things put together gave me a feeling to withhold the purchasing of a new Cooler and gave a try one final time for the repaired one. So instead of buying a new one, I repaired the old motor and it worked fine.

A day later, the motor broke down again. This time I determined that it was indeed time to discard the old and buy a new Cooler. As I called up the same Mechanic, he told me to bring the entire Cooler and show it to him. Then I thought I would give one more try and then buy a new one. As I went to the Mechanic, it was discovered that there was no problem with the motor at all. Then I realised the actual problem. The Cooler mesh that holds straws for water to pass through was actually blocked because of dust clogging. When the front and backside of the mesh for air to pass through were blocked it affected the motor due to air pressure as there was no air inlet. The solution was to replace the entire front and back blanket of straws. Then I drove around and found a shop that could replace the straw and did the replacement. With this simple change, the Cooler worked perfectly well like a new one. It was brough to its usefulness again.

The thought of buying a new Coller was given up for the third time. By the way, this model was no more to be found, and the design of the Cooler was so good that it functions as an Air Conditioner. As long as it could be used, I would prefer to use it. Not merely for the sake of saving money. Of course, I would not invest money in something that can be avoided. Though the Lord has given us sufficient money to buy a new one, I prefer not to, as long as it is not inevitable.

This simple life experience taught me how to live with the bare minimum and live a simple life, taking care of the basic needs by adjusting whatever can be adjusted. This Cooler is really cool in that it taught us to live a cool and simple life. The breakdown and repair process helped me exercise much even in simple matters; learning to trust the Lord in small things too. What a cool Cooler indeed it has been! And what a cool life to trust in the living Lord for all things small and even minute.

Christ Making Home

Yesterday morning in our brothers' fellowship with a mature brother I was enlightened to see what it actually means to allow Christ to make His home in my heart. Doctrinally I know that my mind, emotion, and will need to be transformed to be gained by Christ so as to make my heart His home.  But how do I experience that?

What does it mean for Christ to make His home in our hearts? 

That Christ may make His home in our hearts through faith, that you are rooted and grounded in love. Ephesians 3:17

In Joshua 5:12 footnote 1, we have the three stages of eating; the Passover lamb, the manna, and the good land. All these are types of Christ in different stages in our experience. We might consider having passed out of Egypt having eaten the Passover lamb and also passed out of the wilderness having eaten the manna, but in actuality, we still need the three stages of eating.  

All these years we have been meeting together, to enjoy Christ which is to eat the lamb and to appreciate the redemption of Christ. To eat the lamb means we have nothing. We cannot get out of Egypt by ourselves. The Lord has to show us that we are in a totally destitute situation. 

Why the Israelites were 400 years in Egypt? Just to ensure that they thoroughly understood that without the redemption of Christ they can never get out of Egypt. In the same principle, the Lord has to allow us to fail again and again and again until we eat the Passover lamb for our complete redemption. There are two things the Lord uses very effectively to work on man: 

1. Failure 

2. Time

Why the 400 years? Time is necessary for man to realize that he can not save himself. Then and only then is he prepared to take Christ as his redemption. We fail to such an extent that every part of our being becomes a failure. Our wise God knows how long we should remain in our period of failure. The last 2000 years of church history may be a fulfillment of the 400 years of Israel’s failure in Egypt. Individually, Moses has to be in the wilderness for 40 years. During those 40 years, he was being prepared. He was prepared by living in the wilderness for 40 years. The same is true of every one of us. Did Moses fail in the 40 years? Yes, indeed! He was a total failure! After having such a good start with all the learnings mentioned in Hebrews 12, he ended up with 40 years of training in the wilderness. If you think you are useful in God’s hand, perhaps, you need 40 years of dealing and training. 

What is the preparation of the servant of the Lord? Failures and time. The earlier you recognize this spiritual truth, the better off you’ll be. After 40 years, he didn’t have many struggles. Moses needed 40 years. So, do we. The Lord has to exhaust our hope, then we’re ready for redemption. 

How to experience redemption? Redemption is not just for non-church kids but also for the church kids. We need to eat the lamb our whole life. In the New Jerusalem, Christ is still the Lamb God. There is a remembrance of redemption even in eternity. Eating the lamb is not once for all. Redemption is not once for all. We don't graduate from eating the lamb. Our worshipping the Lord is our enjoying and eating of the Lamb God. The more we see that we are not, the more Christ will be. So, if you fail, again and again, it means that God is teaching you to know Him as the redemption, as the lamb of God, so that you’ll appreciate Christ as your redemption. Even eating the Passover lamb is not so simple - it is intrinsic and organic. 

We need 400 years of Israel corporately and 40 years of Moses personally, the exhausting of Moses’ ambition to serve the Lord, to work for the Lord thinking that he can deliver God's people, should be completely uprooted from our being. That hope is a false hope. Because he can never serve God and deliver God's people and be a blessing, the Lord had to show and expose him to convict him. To the point that he thought at 80, he was finished and good for the grave. The Lord has to bring each one of us to that stage. 

In this light, if you still have hope in yourselves, through failure and time, the Lord will expose your condition. There are no shortcuts in spiritual experiences. It was the 400 years that prepared the Israelites to eat the lamb and received God’s redemption. Gradually we need to have the revelation and see it. The Holy Spirit as the spirit of wisdom and revelation will continue to work out and reveal what we are. We are good for nothing. The question is whether you know it or not. If you don't know it, your enjoyment of Christ is limited. You need to see that you are hopeless. 

After 40 years Moses was ready to enjoy the lamb of God. Otherwise, you’ll think you don't need redemption. You may know the verse in Jeremiah 15:9 that your heart is incurably wicked. But do you realize it? It is a matter of seeing what we are. The sooner we realize it, the better off we will be. It should be no longer I but Christ living in me. Our whole Christian life is Jeremiah 15:9, that we are wicked. The Lord needs to convict us that we are evil. Then you’ll appreciate Christ as redemption. 

Eating the lamb has a precondition: 400 years corporately and 40 years individually of failure and time. You have to be hungry to eat. If you’re oppressed by Pharoah, you want to get out of Egypt. Are we not daily oppressed by Pharoah, Satan? The more you know and see it, eventually after exhausting your hope, you can eat Christ adequately. You think you are not 100%  bad and not incurably wicked. 

In Hebrews 4:12, we have the word operating in us discerning the thoughts and intentions of our heart. Do you think it’ll show how good you are? According to Hebrews 4:13, All things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we are to give an account. Our actions and thoughts are altogether incurable. Adam and Eve saw their terrible condition. Then God came to prepare a covering for them. Only when we see it, will Christ become our redemption.

How Christ makes His home in our hearts? It means, we see that we have no more hope. We are always not, but we have to see that we are not before we could receive Him who is, to be us. We are all hopeless. If we don't see it, we'll be struggling and trying. If you try, you'll fail. Only one who sees that he is not will enter into rest. The entering into rest in Hebrews 7 and 8, is Joshua 6. 

The good land is called rest in Hebrews. Are you at rest? If you still have hope in yourselves, you’re not at rest. When we are not, we’ll enter into rest. The good land is the rest. In your soul, you can rest. There is no longer a struggle in you. You have experientially understood Matthew 11:28-30. The Lord has to defeat the 7 tribes, the enemy in us. Then we would have Christ as our rest. So, what is Christ making His home in your hearts? It is very subjective, experiential, intrinsic, and organic. It is Christ becoming our rest. 

When we have rest, we have no struggle in our mind thinking about this or that, for our mind will be subdued. Joshua's victory is about subduing the tribes. Our mind, emotion and will need to be subdued. This is the process of Christ making His home in our hearts. 

Do you have problems in coordination? Our love is natural, not Christ. So Christ has to subdue our natural love and preference. When we fail, we give up hope and get exhausted, and don’t fight anymore. Our fighting is a kind of rebellion to be good and independent from God. 

One test from Brother Witness Lee was, “Can you stop”? If you cannot, you can't rest. God's way is to show you that you cannot do anything and give up. Then, you rest. That's the time Christ is beginning to make His home in our hearts. He’ll then be and then become what we are not. That is the defeat of the 7 tribes in our mind, emotion, and will. Thank the Lord for the spirit of reality who guides us into all reality. That's how the Lord subdues our rebellion and independence and natural man. Only then we can rest and see Christ coming into us as everything to us. That's when you begin to feast on the unsearchable riches of Christ in Ephesians 3:8 as Christ would slowly make His home by convicting us that we are not. That is the eating of Christ as the produce in the good land. 

After his fellowship, I declared to all the brothers and to the Lord that I am good for nothing and can do nothing. I simply should eat the lamb for the feast? 

Praise the Lord for this revelation! I should have no hope in myself but only in the Lord.

Winds of Teaching

That we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error. Eph. 4:14 

Even as I exhorted you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things. 1 Tim. 1:3 

All teachings that are different from the unique revelation of God’s New Testament economy are considered by the apostles as winds of teaching. The winds of teaching are negative warnings to the churches to be aware of, as such has a subtle intention of creating division in the church. For the building up of the Body of Christ, healthy teaching is of utmost importance. Satan, in his subtlety, twisted the healthy teaching of the Bible and used the teaching to produce different teachings other than God's economy as winds of teaching to accomplish his evil intention of tearing down the building of God. 

If anyone teaches different things and does not consent to healthy words. 1 Tim. 6:3 

The importance of teaching can not be undermined, the Lord himself charged us to teach. But what teaching?

Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age. Matthew 28:19-20

No church can be built up without the proper teaching. Christian groups emphasizing much on gifts and charismatic experiences only stirred up the emotion of the believers. This never builds up. Only healthy teaching builds up the church. Therefore, many Christian leaders realized this and started to bring their teachings. But we must discern what kind of teaching. Only the healthy teaching of the apostles build up the church and keep the churches in oneness. Else, it may just be winds of teaching. These teachings are not necessarily wrong teaching nor heretical, but not healthy for the building up.

What then is the teaching we have to teach? The apostles' teaching.

Nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings rather than God's economy, which is in faith. 1 Tim. 1:4 

Holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching of the apostles, that he may be able both to exhort by the healthy teaching and to convict those who oppose. Titus 1:9 

And they continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42  

Excerpt from The Intrinsic and Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ, Message 5, Outline I, A, B, C.

The teaching of the apostles is the entire teaching of the New Testament as God’s speaking in the Son to His New Testament people—Heb. 1:1-2.

The teaching of the apostles is the unique, divine revelation of God’s New Testament economy from the incarnation of God to the consummation of the New Jerusalem—John 1:14; Rev. 21:2.

The teaching of the apostles is the holding factor of the one accord, causing us to have one heart, one way, and one goal—Acts 1:14; 2:42a, 46a; Jer. 32:39.

The main content of God economy is Christ as the mystery of God, and the church as the mystery of Christ. Any teaching that does not bring us to Christ and build up the church is not the healthy teaching. We must avoid all different teachings other than God's economy, concerning Christ and the church. Any teaching, even a scriptural one, that distracts believers from Christ and the church is a wind that carries believers away from God’s eternal purpose.

This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church. Eph. 5:32 

One erroneous and subtle teaching is the autonomy of the local churches which was taught with an intention of isolating that local churches from the oneness and fellowship of the Body of Christ. The local churches are the expression and manifestation of the Body of Christ in every locality and are all organically related to one another. The local churches are just the procedure for God to gain the one universal Body of Christ. Therefore, there cannot be the autonomy of the local churches.

To avoid the winds of teaching we need to grow in life to be able to discern. For this, a proper and sharp understanding is needed. First, we must know what is real and genuine; having a thorough knowledge of what the proper teaching is. Know first what is real, then you will be able to discern its counterfeits are. Then, we must uphold the faithful word, the healthy teaching of the apostles.

Therefore, we must know what the healthy teaching is, and we must also know what the winds of teaching are. Having known the right and the wrong, we must also pursue the growth in life, uphold the healthy teaching, and speak and teach the healthy teaching.

Lord, preserve me and all the saints to have proper and healthy knowledge of the healthy teaching and be aware of the winds of teaching. We are for the building up of the Body of Christ. Preserve us, Lord! 

Helping Hands

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,  when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, Go, and come back;  and tomorrow I will give it— when you have it with you.  Proverbs 3:27, 28

There are certain people, even among Christian brothers, who just need help and would contact me only when they really need help. Well, I am always ready to help them if it was within my capacity to do so. In fact, I have been doing my best to help people, firstly as a Christian, secondly as a slave of God, and thirdly as a human being. Well, my intention in helping people is with the view that they will also be blessed by God. I do not merely want to do a charity like any other "good" human being. Everything that I do must be with a purpose. The purpose is clear to me; it must mean something to God. If my helping hand is not contributing to God in fulfilling His plan in any way, my helping hand would just be futile. I should not be an instrument of the devil even in my so-called helping hands. 

These days, two brothers have been contacting me because they really need my help. In fact, I have been contacting these ones for shepherding and had spent my time and energy to shepherd them in the best possible way I could. Actually, they received my shepherding for their own benefit, professionally or for their personal need. I knew that as well. But my intention was to shepherd them that they may grow in life and be useful vessels to the Lord with the hope that they can even be built into the Body life. Anyhow they just need my help for their own benefits. At some point, I lost contact with them to the point that one of them even did not bother to receive my call or reply to my text messages for weeks in a row altogether. Nevertheless, I still am open to them should they need anything from me.

One of them recently contacted me to proofread the book he is writing on his profession "Memory Mastery." I did my best to help him as a brother. In fact, he is also the one the Lord saved, a local brother, through my gospel preaching. The Lord has been working in him and he can become quite famous in his field. I have also been praying with him that he grows in life, that his family members be saved, and that he would be a pillar to bear the Lord's testimony.  I believe the Lord will do this, even through all the helping hands I have been rendering. In fact, I have been praying for him to be fully established in the faith and be a strong pillar among the local Haryanvi for the Lord's testimony.

Another brother is an elder brother who has been deeply rooted in a systematized Christianity. Once I invited him to join the Lord's table meeting in Gurugram and sent another brother to pick him up, but he convinced the brother I sent to join his own denominational meeting instead. When I spoke strongly about the truth concerning the church, using all Bible references, truth-wise he had nothing to counter it, but his stand on his own ground he would not budge even an inch. But of late, he called me as he needed help to dispose of his used-car whose life is about to expire. I did my best to simply help him as a brother. I doubt he would not have contacted me at all if not for his need for my help to sell his car. Anyway, I still feel I should respect his feeling and help him in whatever way I could.

Perhaps, I also need to learn just to simply help people without any expectation in return. Though I never wanted anything in return physically, I always wanted that whomever I help would draw near to the Lord Jesus Christ, and be blessed by His eternal help. My help should be ushering them to receive the divine help, the help of all helps.

Amen to the proverbs, "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, Go, and come back; and tomorrow I will give it— when you have it with you."

God's Gifts

Behold, children are the heritage of Jehovah, 

The fruit of the womb a reward.  Psalms 127:3

The Lord has blessed me and my wife with three blessed children. Though we never expected to have children when we got married due to some medical reasons, still the Lord blessed us in His time. In faith, I accepted whatever the Lord gifted me with. To me, every good gift comes from the Lord and I received them as God's blessings. My wife is a gift, so are all my children. They have been my joy in the Lord and I only pray that my wife and I can be a proper shepherd to the gifts God have bestowed us with, our children. 

My prayer for them has always been that of the Lord Jesus' childhood testimony: 

And the little child grew and became strong, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him. Luke 2:42

As they are growing in grace, I have been praying for the Lord's covering upon each one of them; to be covered from all the attacks of the enemy. That they may grow in the reverential fear of God, in the wisdom and knowledge of God, and that they all become sanctified vessels filled with the word of God and the Holy Spirit to be useful vessels to God. I believe the Lord would hear this sincere prayer of mine for the children He has blessed me with.

All of them have been growing in their academic life normally. So far so good. I am surprised by the pace of growth they have been showing. In corresponding to their age, their learning processes have been laudable. Though they are just 13, 11, and 7 years old respectively, the things they have already learned are amazing. And in many cases, they have crossed over their peers; learning beyond their level. And I am glad that they did it. Praise the Lord!

My first daughter developed a liking for reading and researching. She has been able to work all day long every day to do her school works, all the assignments, researching on her own on the internet, and did not require my help at all. My wife helps her wherever necessary. But mostly she could manage all her works by herself. She also developed a hobby of reading and painting. My son too grows at a normal pace in his studies. And similarly, he likes academic stuff especially Maths, Science, and Quiz on general knowledge. He has also learned and picked up things very fast.  My younger daughter too shows very good progress in her mental development. At her age, she could create her own PPT presentation, made her own stories, and did many things I would not expect from someone of her age.

On the physical activities, they learn whatever they could get hold of. Cycling they all learned it in no time. Music, they all learned it steadily on their won. Keyboard, with the help of my wife, and other instruments like the Ukelele on their own. Once a sister gifted an old roller skate, within few days, by getting help from a YouTube video, they learned skating within our living room. Now they have been so good at it and it has become their good time pass after their class works.

Above all these, we taught them to read their Bible every day, which they all have been reading daily as a part of their life now. And family prayer every night, with prayer for various needs now and then. Gradually, we also pray for their salvation and spiritual growth. We a cautious not to give them any premature spiritual knowledge. We want them to grow and learn in time.

As much as children are gifts from God they must also be consecrated to the Lord for His purpose; in whatever He pleases to use them. As far as I am concerned, I have already consecrated all my children to the Lord already, as much as I consecrated my whole life to serve Him.

Last week on my 43rd Birthday, on the 21st of June, my younger daughter prepared a Birthday Card for me. It was so lovely and it meant much to me a the card is also filled with meanings.  This reminds me of the blessing the Lord has bestowed upon me. The cards are enclosed and the messages are loud and clear.

Praise the Lord for all our children, God's gifts to us! Our family is for Christ and the Church, our gifts to God!